The sound of sea waves crashing against the stony shore was quite soothing. Even inside her mud and stivk hut, she enjoyed the sounds of the sea she loved for years as she cut up a small fish at the counter. The starless, hazy night sky was visible through her one, small window above the counter. As she finished with the fish and set it over her tiny fire in the corner, the woman looked longingly to her straw and animal hide sleeping mat. It had been another long, excruciatingly exhausting day toiling in the feilds. The older she got, the worse the labor became. She was starting to fear for her life, as the elderly of her race were frequently just killed when their productivity slowed. That had been the fate of her own parents many years ago.
Then again, death sounded strangely comforting these days. Her life was nothing but a non-stop misery business. Perhaps, it was time to just give up, leaving her broken heart and unmet dreams behind.
A knock suddenly sounded on the door.
The woman twirled towards the direction of the door. She huffed, "Who on earth is coming here now! Just leave an old, bitter woman in peace, won't you!"
She marched the short distance to the door, "How dare-" When she flung the door open, she saw who it was. She dropped to her knees, whispering apologetically, "My Lord! I..."
From beneath his hood, Aglarzor looked down at the far smaller woman with a chuckle, "Old? You still look as young and beautiful as when we first met, Sara."
...
"Flatterer," Sara muttered as he lowered his hand to help her up.
As the strong man pulled her up, Sara felt that familiar sorrow. She was nearing the end of her life to a slowing work pace. Meanwhile, Aglarzor would live a very long life, well past one hundred. It was as if a curse was between them, never to truly wed and be together. And Sara knew much of it was her own doing. Aglarzor closed the door behind him and pulled down his hood. Sara was shocked to see how drained and exhausted he looked.
"My Lord?" Sara extended a hand.
"Please," Aglarzor slouched, walking over to the simple stool close to the counter, "Call me by my name."
As the towering black numenorean sat down, he lifted a hand to his head. "I..."
Sara lifted a hand, pulling off her cloak, "Do you need..."
Aglarzor extended his hand for her to pause. "No. Not yet. If you thought that was the only reason I kept coming back to you all these years, you severely misunderstood me."
Sara still threw the cloak onto her mat before turning to face him, "What do you need, Aglarzor?"
Aglarzor sighed, holding his hand over his eyes, "I sent Kalabnalu out to Eriador. Honestly, I was hoping he would die out there. Instead, he discovered something that drastically changes things."
Sara stood, nervous, "What is it?"
Aglarzor looked away, eyes shadowed in secrecy, "Classified, until I receive further confirmation."
Sara stood where she was, gazing upon the shaken figure of the man she cared for, "Are you alright?"
Instead of answering her question, Aglarzor looked up to her with a wide, shattered expression, so full of raw pain and... was that betrayal in there?
"Do you love me, Sara?"
Sara just scoffed, "What kind of question is tha-"
"--Answer me..."
Sara paused, then sat down on her mat. She looked down to the dirt floor of her hut and sighed, "If I can be honest, my Lord, I still cannot forgive you for taking my, our, daughter and letting her die."
The pain radiating from him exploded. She saw a small sob that he was unable to hide from her.
"But..." Sara sighed, "Even after that, I still feel that desire and longing for you. I don't like seeing you like this, Aglarzor. I want you to..." She blinked, "Is happiness possible in these lands?"
She heard him stand from the stool. She looked up to him, staring down at her with deep, sad eyes, "Perhaps not. At least not for me."
She blinked in bewilderment. Was she not the one who was destined to die bitter and alone? The man sighed, "The only times I ever felt happy were when I was with you."
He fell, crumbled, to his knees. A tear slipped down his cheek as he asked, "Will you comfort me now, even after everything I put you through?"
Sara leapt into his embrace, catching him by surprise, "How can I say no to my master, my lover, the only person who ever cared for me?"
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Sara awoke.
She moaned as that familiar morning sickness took her. She looked up to the ceiling of the house that had hastily become a familiar lodging. She was in a foreign land, under the care of foreign people who were far from caring. She sighed, indeed Kalabnalu had found something that changed everything.
Sara struggled to sit up, shaking and feeling sick in the stomach. She sighed a heavy sigh. She had hidden it from Aglarzor in their next meeting, she had hidden it from her living daughter's caretakers, she had even hidden it from herself. But now? The physical changes were more and more obvious, and she had to face it.
She was with child.
Sara winced, lifting a hand to her head, "Out of all the times to get me pregnant again... Not the two decades sneaking together, not when I was young and lithe, but now, when..."
She started bawling in her bed.
